Mentor and Coach Component

The Millennium Leadership Initiative prepares the next generation of executive leaders in higher education. There are two components to MLI. The first is an intensive four-day program of lectures and pertinent sessions that informs and advises the protégés about executive leadership at colleges and universities. Upon completion of the Institute, each protégé is assigned to a current president or chancellor as a mentor, and a former president or chancellor as a coach.

This mentoring component is the centerpiece of the MLI program. It is comprised of a yearlong protégé-mentor-relationship with a president or chancellor. There are frequent face-to-face meetings, personal consultation, evaluation of career options, and development of strategies for achieving the protégés career objectives. During this experience the protégés remain in their current position with their home institution.

Mentors will:

Invite protégés for a campus visit to “shadow the president or chancellor,” including meetings with senior staff and key external community leaders;

Provide protégés counsel and assistance to identify career development and leadership opportunities in higher education;

Serve as a liaison to connect protégés to other pertinent individuals and resources as needed; Assist protégés to advance their leadership role in higher education;

Assist protégés to refine and implement a professional development plan for their career;

Provide an evaluation of the yearlong experience; and

Notify the Director of the MLI, in a timely manner, of any problems or difficulties.

Professional coaching within MLI’s curriculum is designed to provide valuable insights, guidance and support in promoting innovative, inspired, resourceful leaders for America’s colleges and universities. Coaches provide protégés with an opportunity for regular, targeted, individualized attention for the development of their career and personal goals in a safe, structured environment.

Coaches will:

Open a session with questions like: how are you doing, why did that happen, or what options are you considering currently?

Help protégés improve their performance, increasing their self-awareness, and finding their own path toward achieving personal and organizational goals and career satisfaction and advancement

Help protégés to think through/brainstorm daily problems, interpersonal relations, university issues, their leadership style, in their current position, and in their career trajectory.

Assist the protégé in making progress on their professional development plan; facilitate the strengthening of leadership skills, such as communication, media relations, fund raising, athletics involvement, resource allocation, and entrepreneurship.

Serve as a sounding board for the protégé as he/she progresses through the program.